Monday, May 05, 2008

Saban, Pinkel and the Kent State Shootings

It is one of the darkest moments in U.S. history. Four Kent State students, among protesters against America's involvement in the Vietnam War, were fatally shot by members of the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970.

Alabama's Nick Saban was a defensive back at Kent State and will never forget that day.

"I always think about it," he said. "Allison Krause" — one of four students who died that day — "who I had English class with, I didn't know her well but she was in class with me.

"When things strike home like that, it gives you a different perspective on those things."

Missouri's Gary Pinkel was a senior in a high school only 15 minutes from Kent State, where he enrolled in the fall.

"It’s something that'll be with you forever," he said. "There’s not a May 4 that hasn't gone by where I don't think about it. I vividly go through everything in my mind. It'll forever have an effect on me."